katybug25's review against another edition
4.0
As most satires go, this one was pretty entertaining. Chaos, humor, senseless violence, and vengeance feature heavily in this book. I found the glossary at the back was especially helpful in keeping track of the different factions at war, as well as people. There was a host of interesting characters and weird plot turns that kept me engaged till the end. Personally, Hoffman was one of my favorite characters (he was pretty ridiculous). This was definitely an odd read, but I really enjoyed it.
david_agranoff's review against another edition
4.0
This is a novel about a subject and setting overdue for exploration in genre novels. The Iraq war has rarely been a topic in sci-fi or horror. The best example I can think of is John Shirley's Constantine tie-in novel Warlord. I have been waiting for someone to tackle the GW Bush lead Iraq invasion in genre fiction for awhile. EFB is set in the chaos about a year after the march 2003 invasion of the country looking for the phantom menace of Weapons of Mass Destruction. This sets a stage for a violent, chaotic crazy story that plays against the war torn city pretty straight at first, but in the second act stuff gets weird fantasy wise.
Probably the best thing about this novel is that it is not told from the point of view of a U.S. solider, the two lead characters Dagr and Kinza are locals whose lives were majorly disrupted by the invasion. There is one US solider character - Hoffman is an interesting one, but the majority of the story is seen through local eyes. This is something I liked as most of the media portrayal of Iraq that this country gets is from US solider's point of view.
Dagr and Kinza are doing what they can to survive, and in the process they discover a man in hiding that is wanted by both sides. They him as a means to get out of the city. There is more to this man, who has an ancient history and once they make there way across the city things get weird. Crazed Alchemists, immortals, magic time pieces are all involved but over all pretty subtle. I enjoyed this novel but it is played mostly straight. I actually would have liked it to be a little more crazy.
This is my first novel by an author from Bangladesh. It seems like it was well researched and felt like Hossain understood the city, but again what do I know. I also didn't laugh as much as I expected from the blurbs on the cover. The humor didn't work for me, but the characters and setting did. I didn't LOVE this book but I enjoyed and really respect what it accomplished. I certainly would read this author again.
Probably the best thing about this novel is that it is not told from the point of view of a U.S. solider, the two lead characters Dagr and Kinza are locals whose lives were majorly disrupted by the invasion. There is one US solider character - Hoffman is an interesting one, but the majority of the story is seen through local eyes. This is something I liked as most of the media portrayal of Iraq that this country gets is from US solider's point of view.
Dagr and Kinza are doing what they can to survive, and in the process they discover a man in hiding that is wanted by both sides. They him as a means to get out of the city. There is more to this man, who has an ancient history and once they make there way across the city things get weird. Crazed Alchemists, immortals, magic time pieces are all involved but over all pretty subtle. I enjoyed this novel but it is played mostly straight. I actually would have liked it to be a little more crazy.
This is my first novel by an author from Bangladesh. It seems like it was well researched and felt like Hossain understood the city, but again what do I know. I also didn't laugh as much as I expected from the blurbs on the cover. The humor didn't work for me, but the characters and setting did. I didn't LOVE this book but I enjoyed and really respect what it accomplished. I certainly would read this author again.
kumquats87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A torturer, arms dealer, and former professor need to walk out of Baghdad. Yet an unfortunate case of resting violent face and a community under siege by a violent phantom delay their best laid plans. One watch that’s not a watch later, and our 3 protagonists are thrown out of the pan, only to land in a flaming dumpster fire.
I missed reading black comedy. It has been years. Escape for Baghdad is such an entertaining refresher, relishing in both the pitch black of trauma, torture, and sadism, as well as the absurdity of war. Then you have the complexity of the magical realism, which was the cherry on a very bloody cake.
An enthralling read that kept me hooked from beginning to end, with enough challenging and thought-inducing parts to really chew on.
I missed reading black comedy. It has been years. Escape for Baghdad is such an entertaining refresher, relishing in both the pitch black of trauma, torture, and sadism, as well as the absurdity of war. Then you have the complexity of the magical realism, which was the cherry on a very bloody cake.
An enthralling read that kept me hooked from beginning to end, with enough challenging and thought-inducing parts to really chew on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Medical content, Confinement, Car accident, War, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Torture, and Cursing
Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Cancer, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Minor: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Fire/Fire injury
carolynf's review against another edition
2.0
Not a bad book. It is well written, with bizarre yet vaguely believable characters and crazy plot twists. But - I just didn't like it. One of the reviews on the back says that this book is reminiscent of Catch-22 and the original MASH book, and I heartily agree. The overall tone is nihilism, dark humor, and a combination of despair and exhilaration. The world of these characters is so fucked up that logic and morality no longer have any practical meaning. While some of the characters at least try to figure out the right thing to do, most are just completely psychotic. All of this makes for an engaging but exhausting read - an empty rush.
If I worked for the NYT book review section, I would definitely rate it higher. But this is a social media site, and the star system is based on my personal tastes rather than impartial assessment, so yeah... I read it all the way through, won't read it again, and probably won't read anything else by the author either if this is his usual style.
If I worked for the NYT book review section, I would definitely rate it higher. But this is a social media site, and the star system is based on my personal tastes rather than impartial assessment, so yeah... I read it all the way through, won't read it again, and probably won't read anything else by the author either if this is his usual style.
mehrangezmr's review against another edition
5.0
It's hard to review a book when you like it too much to be dispassionate. Admittedly, this is a bit of a weird book, not least the way it switches genre from hard-bitten combat-zone movie to one-liner-filled farce to centuries-old conspiracy thriller a la Umberto Eco. I can tell that wouldn't necessarily work for many readers but it works for me.
I am attached to all the characters - the gentle, professorial Dagr, the almost feral killing machine Kinza, idiotic yet strangely likeable Hoffman, I can tell the author enjoyed just hanging out with his characters, even the minor ones, and I did too. That's what makes a book for me, especially a book like this with a lot of different threads to keep track of and abruptly twisting plot developments.
For a story which features a lot of wisecracks and explosions, there is a lot of humanity in the narrative - I defy anyone to read the lyrical descriptions without feeling moved - and it's that heart which drives it, I think.
I have to echo a previous reviewer wishing that it were better copy-edited; there are a few formatting errors that tend to jerk you out of the book when you least want to be disturbed. Please try harder, Unnamed Press!
I am attached to all the characters - the gentle, professorial Dagr, the almost feral killing machine Kinza, idiotic yet strangely likeable Hoffman,
Spoiler
even the 'baddies': Hamid the torturer, thuggish Behruse and the sexy, sinister Sabeen (try saying that ten times fast). (Minor derail: most war-and-suchlike-manly-shenanigans books I have read don't really have good starring roles for women, so I really enjoyed what the author does with Sabeen and Mother Davala here.)For a story which features a lot of wisecracks and explosions, there is a lot of humanity in the narrative - I defy anyone to read the lyrical descriptions
Spoiler
of the American soldiers' last minutes on earth or the flashbacks to happier times in Dagr's lifeI have to echo a previous reviewer wishing that it were better copy-edited; there are a few formatting errors that tend to jerk you out of the book when you least want to be disturbed. Please try harder, Unnamed Press!
waclements7's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. I have never read anything remotely like this before. It’s very dark, very violent, and very funny.
rixx's review against another edition
4.0
tl;dr: Fun, violence, fun.
In some very technical sense, this book is Urban Fantasy: there are fantastical elements, and it takes place in a city. As you may have guessed, the city is Baghdad. The time is not long after Hussein's death, so it feels less like a city and more like a war zone, but still – Urban Fantasy.
Thankfully, and I say this as somebody [who](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/2017/moon-over-soho) [occasionally](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/by-series/#The%20Dresden%20Files) [reads](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/2018/sandman-slim) [and](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/2016/anansi-boys) [enjoys](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/by-author/#Sergei%20Lukyanenko) the genre, this book does not follow genre conventions. For one, the fantastical aspects make their appearance late and while they are really cool (Avicenna makes an appearance!), they don't dominate the story.
What instead dominates the story is how people deal with the horrors of war, particularly war impact and its consequences in a city. It's gruesome and violent, occasionally over-the-top (Hossain can do absurdist humour very well), but it never lets you forget how fundamentally terrible war is, and how it forces decent people to do unspeakable things. The supernatural aspect does not serve to soften or hide or motivate this – it's just there, and it's just as matter-of-fact and humanly flawed as the rest of the plot.
Despite the focus on war, PTSD, violence, death, torture, and pain – I enjoyed reading this book, and it managed to be fun, not depressing. And that's despite (or due? probably not) the fact that it feels terribly real. Even though there would be room for a sequel, the author has no plans to write one, and while that's probably wise, I can't help but be a little sad.
In some very technical sense, this book is Urban Fantasy: there are fantastical elements, and it takes place in a city. As you may have guessed, the city is Baghdad. The time is not long after Hussein's death, so it feels less like a city and more like a war zone, but still – Urban Fantasy.
Thankfully, and I say this as somebody [who](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/2017/moon-over-soho) [occasionally](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/by-series/#The%20Dresden%20Files) [reads](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/2018/sandman-slim) [and](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/2016/anansi-boys) [enjoys](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/by-author/#Sergei%20Lukyanenko) the genre, this book does not follow genre conventions. For one, the fantastical aspects make their appearance late and while they are really cool (Avicenna makes an appearance!), they don't dominate the story.
What instead dominates the story is how people deal with the horrors of war, particularly war impact and its consequences in a city. It's gruesome and violent, occasionally over-the-top (Hossain can do absurdist humour very well), but it never lets you forget how fundamentally terrible war is, and how it forces decent people to do unspeakable things. The supernatural aspect does not serve to soften or hide or motivate this – it's just there, and it's just as matter-of-fact and humanly flawed as the rest of the plot.
Despite the focus on war, PTSD, violence, death, torture, and pain – I enjoyed reading this book, and it managed to be fun, not depressing. And that's despite (or due? probably not) the fact that it feels terribly real. Even though there would be room for a sequel, the author has no plans to write one, and while that's probably wise, I can't help but be a little sad.
stargrass's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cj_jones's review
4.0
What if Catch 22 was written about two Italian civilians living in the devastation of occupation? That's kind of what we have here. The humor is dark, the content is brutal at times, and it's the first thing I've read about the Iraq War from the perspective of the invaded. The book's political perspective, if it has one, is lightly applied, and the fantasy elements are subtly and gradually introduced. The MacGuffin gets dropped more or less completely in the third act, and I feel like the ending just peters out when we run out of characters. That, though, is really the book's biggest fault I think.